Omaha daily bee., 1887-03-25
yaiuc of Literary Work.

vaiuc OF Literary Work.
Pail Mall Gazette: MIR Gladstone was
paid $3.50 for his article on "Locksley
Hail. and the Jubilee" in the current
Nineteenth Century. This suggests two
sorts OF interesting reflections. First,
say the article was about twenty pages,
and there arc about five hundred words
on q page; in $3.50 there are exactly
10000 pence, which shows Mr.. Knowles
rate of pay to his most eminent contrib
utors to be about six pence u word.
Speech. or rather writing, is certainly
golden in this case, whatever silence may
be elsewhere. We wonder at what rate
the other three distinguished contrib
utors were paid. We should appraisc
thing like this, keeping to the proportion
of Mr.. Gladstone's 6 pence a word Mr..
John Morley. 3 pence q word; Mr..
Mathew Arnold, ! pence word; Mr..
Swinburne, ten words penny. Apropos
OF this staggering check, 1t is interesting
to collect few figures of prices given
and accepted for literature which-well,
is less ophemeral than Mr.. Gladstone's
golden eloquence: Goldsmith received
son $500 for tho Lives of Poets. The
Lambs were paid 60 guineas for the Tales
from Shakespeare" Fielding received
e600 for Tom Jones. But we have no
space to quote innumerable instances Of
such Grub street prices paid for work
which still delights the world. Take
Thacke cray, for instance, who SAID that
he had never made more than $4,000 for
any Of his books. Fancy the price of
Vanity Fair! On the other hand, Scott
made in less than two years, G26, 900;
Lord Lytton is said to have made GS0,000
by his novels; Dickensi is supposed to have
cleared 10000 year during the publi-
cation of Nicholas Nickleby, and $1,000
was to have been paid for Edwin brood.
"Dizzy' is said to have made $50, by
his novels, while George Eliot's profits on
Romola were estimated at 9l0,00O, and
two novels alone. Byron's gains were
about $23, ,00O Moore was paid 9s, 900 for
Lalla Rookh;" Macaulay received G23, 900
on account of three-fourths of his His.
tory" These figures would have been
doubled [shall we say?l but, alas! there
was no Barnum of literature in those
days. What is a pen without name?
What is Going on in Siwashtown.
ALASKA Free Press: The brilliant enter
tainments given in Siwashtown during
the past week are still the theme of much
conversation. The dancing academy has
been one continuous blaze of light
through the holidays, the festivities being
conducted under the auspices of Mayor
Kow-ee. In these portly halls were as
sembled the beauty and fashion of the
place, and many were the gorgeous COS
tunes of the more wealthy class of the
fair sex, and on not few of them an
elaborate display of expensive jewelry.
Miss Kow-ee With a -Ring-in-Her Nose,
daughter of our much esteemed mayor,
leader of Slwashtown societysand heir
ess IN her own right to two AUX resi-
dences and three canoes, wore beau
tifql crown fashioned from hem
a bright colored beaded buck.
skin c6emise, high water calico over.
skirt, and $40 Hudson bay blanket
thrown gracefully over her shapely
shoulders. For jewelry she displayed
fourteen TIN bracelets, silver labrette a
la shingle nail through her upper lip,
and two brass watch chains encirc LED
her brown ankles. Her nose and cheeks
were painted black and her arms and
limbs from the knees down were bare.
Her elegant costume and graceful evolu-
tions were the envy of the fair sex, and
she was designated the 'belle of the
ball" The old mayor himself wore upon
his head, the latest style hat, enclrclcd
with Gag lie feathers, military dress coat,
flour sack pantaloons, and u PAIR of rub
ber boots, His whole bearing was that
of one born to command, and he was
music, which was furnished by the ST.
washtown orchestra, consisting of two
drums and five rattles. was rendered in a
soul.stirring manner.
The Union Pacific nulled ont two sec.